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Don’t Get Caught Out – Make Sure Your Rights Are Protected!

Aug 16, 2017

Under English law, groups of tenants have the right to buy the freehold of their buildings from its current owner provided that certain statutory criteria are met; this process is called collective enfranchisement.

The process is begun by the tenants serving a statutory notice. This notice should be protected by registering a notice on the landlord’s title in accordance with the statutory procedure.

In a recent case involving tenants who failed to register a notice against the freehold title, the freehold was transferred by the freehold to his wife and then back to him again. The freeholder argued that, as the claim to the freehold was not protected by the notice at the Land Registry, he was no longer bound to transfer the freehold to the tenants.

After passing through the First-Tier and Upper Tribunal, the case found its way to the Court of Appeal. They concluded that due to the tenants failing to register the notice, the transfer of the freehold meant that the notice ceased to have effect against the freeholder, regardless of whether or not it was transferred back to the original owner.

At Nockolds Solicitors we provide exceptional advice on leasehold enfranchisement claims. We will guide and advise you throughout the process, explaining all legal terms in an accessible and simple format and ensuring that your legal rights are protected at every stage.

For more information and to find out how we can help you, please contact our Commercial Property Team on 01279 755777.

About the author

Lucy Riley

Lucy joined Nockolds in April 2016 as a Senior Associate Solicitor in the Commercial Property Team. Qualifying in 2000, Lucy trained and worked in London ...

Nockolds Solicitors Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (”SRA”) (ID numbers 567738 & 605527). A copy of the SRA’s rules can be found at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code.